BitMart, a cryptocurrency exchange, has announced an orderly wind-down of its trading platform, with all trading services scheduled to end on Aug. 26 and full operations set to cease on Jan. 31, 2027. The timeline was disclosed in a notice posted to the company’s support portal on Sunday.

Under the shutdown plan, BitMart said it has already stopped accepting new user registrations and deposits. The exchange has also moved futures trading into reduce-only mode, while spot markets are no longer accepting new orders. Those measures can affect liquidity and the ability of users to reposition or exit holdings as the platform moves toward closure.

BitMart outlines wind-down timeline and trading restrictions

In its notice, BitMart said the decision followed an evaluation of “operating conditions, market environment, and future strategic direction.” The company said it would begin an orderly wind-down of trading platform operations.

The operational changes have already limited access to several core services. New account registrations and deposits have been halted, futures positions can only be reduced, and spot trading no longer allows new orders. In exchange operations, reduce-only futures settings generally allow users to lower or close existing exposure rather than increase it. The restrictions are consistent with a platform reducing trading risk during a closure process.

For users, the changes mean the exchange is no longer designed to support new risk-taking activity. Positions may also become more difficult to manage if market depth changes during the wind-down. As trading functions are restricted, withdrawal functionality becomes increasingly central because transferring assets off the platform may be one of the remaining available actions.

BMX drops as users report withdrawal delays

BitMart’s native BMX token declined sharply during the announcement period. At the time of writing, BMX was trading around $0.09464, down nearly 70% from about $0.31 late Friday. The token reportedly fell as low as $0.1058 early Saturday before extending the decline.

Several users on X reported that withdrawals were taking longer than usual. Some posts focused on Tether’s USDT withdrawals remaining pending for hours.

BitMart also said some withdrawal requests could be subject to additional compliance and security reviews, which may extend processing times. That disclosure is relevant to the exchange’s shutdown process because users attempting to move assets may encounter longer review periods before transfers are completed. During exchange wind-downs, the practical focus for customers often shifts from trading access to account access, withdrawal status and any documentation needed to satisfy review procedures.

Before publication, BitMart did not respond to a request for comment made by Cointelegraph.

Arkham data shows lower BitMart-attributed balances

As BitMart’s trading operations wind down in stages, attention has turned to whether users can withdraw funds smoothly. Arkham data available through its explorer showed wallets attributed to BitMart holding about $71 million in crypto assets on Sunday, down from roughly $102 million on July 6.

According to the same Arkham view, about $41.5 million of the tracked holdings consisted of WFI tokens from stablecoin-banking platform WeFi. BitMart-attributed wallets also held about $91,000 in USDT.

The decrease in total assets shown by Arkham does not, by itself, establish whether funds are moving to customer withdrawals, other custody arrangements, or operational buffers. Wallet labels and on-chain balances can provide useful visibility, but they do not necessarily capture all exchange-controlled assets or liabilities. However, the data provides a real-time view of whether balances attributed to BitMart are shrinking as the wind-down progresses.

Other exchange closures and confusion over similar tickers

BitMart’s plan comes amid a broader series of crypto trading platform closure announcements. Earlier in the week, BitMEX and Dango also said they would shut down their respective trading platforms, according to Cointelegraph’s coverage of those announcements.

Separately, social media discussion showed some confusion between BitMart’s BMX token and BitMEX-related tickers. On Saturday, an X user in a Mandarin-speaking crypto community referred to BMX’s drop while speculating about the reason. Another user responded by citing a mismatch between the online discussion and BitMEX’s announced shutdown date.

That reference did not align with BitMEX’s Sept. 23 shutdown date, as Cointelegraph previously reported. Cointelegraph also noted that BitMEX’s own token BMEX fell about 90% shortly after BitMEX’s notice, while multiple accounts in the same community appeared to confuse BMX with BitMEX.

It was not immediately clear whether the confusion had any material effect on BMX trading or whether it reflected broader information noise during a period of multiple platform shutdown announcements. The episode underscores that similarly named exchanges, products and tokens can be misread during closure events, particularly when trading restrictions and token price moves occur around the same time.

BitMart is now moving from trading restrictions toward full cessation of operations in January 2027. Further developments will depend on the exchange’s withdrawal processing, any additional compliance review steps, and changes in on-chain balances attributed to BitMart as the wind-down continues.